Eleni Debo

Eleni Debo Chicago Design The Road
Eleni Debo Chicago Design The Road Thumbs
Initial Palette Tests
Eleni Debo Print Example2

The road

Although not being terribly good at it, I do very much enjoy going out biking. There's something immensely satisfying to cruising through the landscape at bicycle speed. Just fast enough to move a considerable distance and notice the changing of the landscape, but just slow enough that you don't miss out on all the details that are to be experienced along the road. No need to plan, no need to load, you just jump on your bike and the road is yours to choose. 

These were the kind of thoughts going through my mind, when I was asked by This is Colossal to create a bicycle themed illustration for their upcoming print show "Chain Reaction" at the Chicago Design museum. 

While I fairly quickly decided on the idea I wanted to portray with my illustration (jotting it down in, in hindsight, rather illegible thumbnails), I did spend considerable time going back and forth on the color palette, doubting between a cheery springtime mood or a slightly more dramatic atmosphere. I eventually settled on a scene illuminated by the last rays of sunlight on a warm summer's day, which is honestly my favorite moment here in the mountains where I live; seeing the mountains turn ever more unbelievable shades of red in that brief moment just before the sun disappears completely behind the mountaintops.